Way to go Jerusalem. Israel’s capital has been voted the world’s 11th best city in the world by the readers of the American travel magazine Travel+Leisure. That puts Jerusalem just one notch behind Paris, but way ahead of neighboring Tel Aviv, which came in 29th.
Jerusalem also scored high on the continent list – as the second best city in Africa and the Middle East (although that’s not a hard one to beat – once you’ve seen the Birj Dubai, you’re pretty much done with the UAE). Tel Aviv did well on this ranking, pulling in the third place spot.
While it’s always nice to see our cities hit top marks in travel polls, I have to wonder about a poll, which puts Bangkok at number one. Sure it’s an exotic location, but is it really a better city than, say, Florence, Rome or New York (which came in second, third and fourth respectively)?
And then there’s the Lonely Planet poll from last year, which saw Tel Aviv as the third best city in the world, “a kind of San Francisco in the Middle East,” the guide said among other superlatives. Jerusalem didn’t even place in the top 10, nor did Bangkok (although another Thai city, Chang Mai, did).
Still, I’ll take what we can get. It’s better than topping the list of countries most likely to be delegitimitized at the U.N. this fall.
Fighting for Israel's truth
We cover what makes life in Israel so special — it's people. A non-profit organization, ISRAEL21c's team of journalists are committed to telling stories that humanize Israelis and show their positive impact on our world. You can bring these stories to life by making a donation of $6/month.
